Cycling: According to a media report by the English cycling magazine Cycling Weekly, John Degenkolb – currently still under contract with Giant-Alpecin – has decided to switch to Trek-Segafredo. The German is set to take over from the retired Fabian Cancellara with the US team.
Is everything going so fast now? As the English cycling portal Cycling Weekly wants to know from a reliable source, John Degenkolb's move to Trek-Segafredo for the coming season is fixed. Accordingly, last year's Paris-Roubaix and Milan - San Remo winners have cut short talks with his current team, Giant-Alpecin and also with Etixx - Quick-Step, who were interested in signing. At Trek-Segafredo, Degenkolb would follow in the footsteps of Fabian Cancellara, who will retire at the end of the season.
According to UCI regulations, the changes for the coming season can only be announced on August 1st, but experience has shown that talks take place much earlier. So even if, understandably, neither side wants to comment on the rumours, the scenario outlined is definitely within the realm of possibility. In any case, Trek Segafredo boss Luca Guercilena made no secret of his team's interest in Degenkolb's services: "We're looking around carefully because we want to have a powerful team in 2017. We must see what is possible and exercise patience. Degenkolb is strong and would be great for the classics. He would be a valuable driver for any team.”
The rumors about a change came up a few weeks ago and should it actually happen, a chain reaction could follow. The German co-sponsor of Degenkolb's current team, Alpecin, indicated that they would not be too happy about the second departure of a great German rider after Kittel and in this case flirted with an exit. So there could be a big change of chairs in the coming year - also because the second division, Bora-Argon 18, would like to be promoted to the WorldTour as another German team and could certainly use a financially strong co-sponsor for this. But for the moment there is nothing more than rumors and assumptions - but the signs are growing that we are facing a hot transfer summer.
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